Recruit Henry drops 47 at classic
Posted Monday, May 26, 2008
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The top four basketball players in the recruiting Class of 2009 — who all have Kansas University on their list of prospective schools — traveled to various AAU tournaments over the Memorial Day weekend.
No. 1 ranked John Wall and No. 3 Derrick Favors were among the blue-chips at the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in Chapel Hill, N.C.
No. 2 Xavier Henry was the top billing at the Nike Memorial Day Classic in Nashville, Tenn. while No. 4 Renardo Sidney competed at a tourney in San Jose, Calif.
Henry, a 6-foot-6 senior-to-be from Putnam City (Okla.) High, showed “relentless attacking of the basket off the dribble,” according to Rivals.com analyst Jerry Meyer. “His handle was tight and his impressive physique tough to deal with when barreling to the basket.”
Henry, who plays AAU ball for Oklahoma Athletes First, recently erupted for 47 points in the title game of the Show-Me Classic tourney in Missouri.
He has strong co-leaders in KU and Memphis and also has received scholarship offers from UCLA, Texas, Louisville, Ohio State and North Carolina.
Wall, a 6-4 senior-to-be from Word of God Christian Academy In Raleigh, N.C., told the Raleigh News and Observer he’s “wide open” on colleges after an AAU game in which he bounced an inbounds pass off an opponent’s back and skied for a slam dunk.
Wall in the past has had KU, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Kentucky, Memphis, Indiana, Florida, Virginia and others on his list.
“Wall is the fastest player in the country,” recruiting analyst Gibbons told the News and Observer. “He is at a different speed than anyone else and he is a great passer. He’s the best point guard in the country and one of the two or three best players.”
Favors, a 6-foot-9 senior-to-be from South Atlanta (Ga.) High, on Saturday told the Raleigh paper he’s considering KU, Duke, North Carolina, Memphis, Kentucky, North Carolina State, Georgia and Georgia Tech.
“He plays with the intensity of a Tyler Hansbrough and is more skilled than Tyler was at his age,” Gibbons said after watching Favors put on a typical (for him) shot blocking display. “He works like Hansbrough but reminds you of Sam Perkins. Favors is one of the best shot blockers I’ve seen.”
Sidney, 6-10 from Fairfax High in Los Angeles, told Rivals.com he’s considering KU, UCLA, USC, Texas, Memphis, Arizona State, Ohio State, Louisville, Syracuse, Michigan State and UConn.
Other members of Rivals.com’s Top Ten who have KU on their lists of schools: No. 7 Lance Stephenson, 6-5, from Lincoln High in Brooklyn, N.Y., and No. 8 Daniel Orton, 6-10, from Oklahoma City McGuinness High.
No. 11-rated Dominic Cheek, a 6-5 senior-to-be from St. Anthony High in Jersey City, N.J., and the teammate of incoming KU guard Tyshawn Taylor, at the Gibbons event said he was interested in Villanova, Wake Forest, KU, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Florida, UConn, Texas and Maryland.
No 28-rated Rodney Williams, 6-5 from Robbinsdale Cooper Senior High in New Hope, Minn., also played in Carolina over the weekend. He likes Minnesota, KU, Iowa, Iowa State, Purdue and Wisconsin.
- When: Sat., Oct. 18, 2:30 p.m. CT
- Where: Norman, Okla.
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- Date: Fri., Oct. 17
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- Where: Allen Fieldhouse
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- Drew Gooden : F-C, Chicago Bulls
- Kirk Hinrich : G, Chicago Bulls
- Darnell Jackson : F, Cleveland Caveliers
- Raef LaFrentz : F, Portland Trailblazers
- Paul Pierce : G-F, Boston Celtics
- Scot Pollard : C-F, Boston Celtics
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- Billy Thomas : G, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Jacque Vaughn : G, San Antonio Spurs Julian Wright : F, New Orleans Hornets
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Comments
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Posted by Strikewso (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 5:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Everyone has KU on their list! Self knows recruiting.
Posted by jayhawkinatl (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 5:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yep, and having a national championship in your back pocket doesn't hurt either.
Posted by JJHawq (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 9:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I want both Henry's...
Posted by JJHAWK (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 9:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Anyone have any idea how many schollies will be available for next year?
Posted by larnedbear (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 10:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope Coach Self leaves one scholly available for X Henry. The 2009 roster should be filled with scoring, but we can always use someone that can score 47 points in a finals game of the Show-Me tourney.
Posted by KGphoto (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Welcome to the new age of college basketball. One and done's fill the top 10 and we have one of the best coaches to take advantage of that. And maybe the best coach at keeping those guys for a second year.
Roy isn't good with them, it's not his style (but he is also good at keeping them around another year). Calipari and Howland are very good, throw in coach K and maybe Rick Barnes and Billy Donavan. That's a pretty small club.
Looks like we're gonna be a permanent fixture in the Final Four.
Posted by tdub (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 11:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What concerns me is that, though I have no idea how many scollies will officially be open, there certainly won't be a whole lot of room after hauling in seven players this year.
Posted by killabees (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We will have at least on scholarship available (Chalmer's), and one potential on (Collins, if he declares). We might have some transfers (we have in the past), and Self could also ask a few players to pay their own way or go on academic scholarship.
I think we'll have 2-3 scholarships available, and, as much as I would love for it to happen, I don't think that every top recruit will decide on KU, so I think we'll be just fine.
Posted by jross1972 (Johann Ross) on May 26, 2008 at 11:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We need Xavier.
Posted by flipborder02 (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 4:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
KG don’t underestimate Roys recruiting ability he can get it done look at some of the classes he has brought in. I’m just telling you.
Posted by FTUCH3432 (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 5:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Long time reader... first time actually posting. Just wanted to share something interesting I came across with you all. Spent the day at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA (really cool stuff there) and found that one of the major Kansas displays has a major typo. It's printed in behind a glass casing honoring KU's basketball tradition that the Hawks won the title in '98 instead of '88. I told one of the employees who wrote out a note to the curator to fix it.
ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!
Posted by stravinsky (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 6:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Xavier Henry... Kansas waaannts yooouuu... Soooo baaaad.
(I just got done watching the new Bob Dylan movie, "I'm Not there." It's freaking sweet!)
Posted by lee3022 (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 9:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Flipborder02 you make a good point about Roy. But here's the reality - the recruits are rated up because Roy is recruiting them also. KU recruits enjoy the same phenomenon. If they really are the best players Roy must not be a top coach (his only title came with someone else's players).
I think we will have 2 scholarships for 2009 without any early leaves but Collins will consider leaving next year if he has a good year and Cole might as well (I think Cole might be the best center in the country next year!).
I would hope we do well with the Oklahoma kids. They have been good to us and us for them in the past. This is our backyard.
We have a very solid team of complementary players now and other than Cole and Sherron none have shown themselves to dominate. A star such as Xavier would be the final piece in two years.
Posted by Strikewso (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 9:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Roy also was afraid to recruit on the east coast, and we may have lost some potential talent there. Self goes where the talent is. NY, Alaska, LA, Russia - it just doesn't matter.
I would expect somebody to get upset about their playing time and transfer, that seems to be a trend. BTW, anyone heard from Micah Downs? Didn't think so.
Posted by brooksmd (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 10:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Strikewso...Micah who???? lol
Posted by mightyjoyung (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 11:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
All of those recruiting classes Didn't win any championships for ole Roy in Kansas
Posted by 100 (anonymous) on May 26, 2008 at 11:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
used to watch Carl Henry, Xavier's dad, play in Allen Fieldouse when I was a kid. Man he was a fun to watch, and you could always count on him pulling up and draining those 17 footers. Made the fact that Darnell Valentine had taken off for the Portland Trailblazers a little less painful.
Posted by afilmer (anonymous) on May 27, 2008 at 7:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i wonder if favors can flop like hansbrough - and i wonder if he as the same owner as psycho T - cole aldrich.
Posted by nameer (anonymous) on May 27, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
none of them have dominated because none of them had any playing time. i was pretty impressed with the limited minutes reed got, especially considering he was injured all season